Borough President Eric Adams held his first meeting with ReSET — his new Renewable and Sustainable Energy Taskforce — on Monday to discuss, among other green issues, his goal of getting Brooklyn Borough Hall to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

Brooklyn Borough Hall is the borough’s oldest building, built in 1848, and Borough President Adams will be working with the U.S. Green Building Council and ReSET to look into options such as geothermal and solar energy to get the building LEED certified.

He believes that Brooklyn Borough Hall will then serve as an example for the rest of Brooklyn’s infrastructure to follow suit.

“We want to lead by example, that’s L-E-E-D by example,” he said.

While Brooklyn Borough Hall will lead Brooklyn by example, Adams hopes that Brooklyn will lead New York in adopting renewable energy.

“Just by the sheer size of our city, there’s no reason why we can’t give Brooklyn a renewable energy agenda that’s aggressive, ambitious and most importantly, achievable,” he said.

Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna spoke of the benefits of ReSET in allowing Brooklyn to become a green leader.

“Convening this task force creates for us the opportunity to look forward, to be transformative for our borough and for our city,” Reyna said.

Adams said that this initiative was important enough to him to be willing to invest some of his capital funding in getting Brooklyn Borough Hall LEED certified.

“We are going to put our money where our mouth is,” he said.

As of right now, no specific budget has been set for the project. ReSET will work to look into all possible options to get Borough Hall LEED certified before any decisions are made.

The formation of ReSET comes at a time of other great environmental news for the city of New York. On Friday, April 11, New York was ranked eighth among major U.S. cities for installed solar.

In Albany last week, a new report titled Shining Cities: At the Forefront of America’s Solar Energy Revolution was released, naming New York in the top 20 of major cities for the amount of solar installed.

Adams’ move toward sustainable energy is a forward-thinking one, as the renewable resources industry has exploded in growth over the past few years. The top 20 cities listed in the report have more solar power within their city limits than was installed in the entire U.S. just six years ago.

Vice president of New York Solar Energy Industries Alliance (NYSEIA) David Sandbank commended New York City on its work with sustainable energy so far, and urged everyone to continue working to become a greener city, state and nation.

“New York City is home to a wealth of industries and it is crucial that it continues to lead the way to nurture and build the solar industry,” Sandbank said.